Safe
by swarekmcnally
Summary: Just a little McSwarek family AU involving Sam, his truck, and he and Andy's son.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or it's characters. **

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_"__My dad never even got to teach me how to drive."_

The words rung in Sam's mind as he made his way through the front door. That day, the officers of 15 Division had been forced to deal with a case involving the son of a Toronto firefighter who had been killed on the job. The boy, Michael, was sixteen and decided that taking a gun to the firehouse was the only way to settle his grief. Luckily, no one was seriously injured before they was able to calm him down, but his words stayed with Sam. Michael's father had given his life for this city all the while taking so many important things away from his son and his family. So many things Sam himself wanted with Andy and their kids.

He snuck down the hallway towards their son's room, knowing he was definitely awake. Although the five year old boy tried to hide it, both Sam and Andy knew he never fell asleep until they were both safely home from work.

"Buddy," Sam whispered, opening the door. He walked over to the bed and sat down.

In the faint light of the Iron Man nightlight he saw the little boy's lips creep into a smile and one eye open ever so slightly. When he saw Sam, he quickly squeezed his eyes closed, choosing to pretend he was still asleep.

"Liam, buddy, I know you're awake, it's okay," Sam laughed, brushing his hand gently through his son's dark hair.

The little boy grunted, still pretending to be asleep and let out a fake snore.

"I guess you don't want your surprise then," Sam hinted as he slowly got up and pretended to leave the room.

"Wait, Daddy!" Liam called, jolting out of bed, "Daddy, no, come back. What's the surprise?"

"Oh, you're awake now? Are you sure?" Liam nodded excitedly as he climbed out from under his covers and scrambled towards his father.

"Okay, but be quiet, we don't wanna wake up Mommy and your baby sister. I have something I to show you, something very grown up."

He quickly helped his son put on his shows and coat, then carried him out to the truck.

"Are we going for a ride?"

"Sort of," he said, lifting Liam into the driver's seat as he got in as well. Sam shifted the five year old on his lap, placing his little hands at ten and two on the wheel, "You're going to learn how to drive."

The child's mouth dropped open in shock as he looked back at his father, who was sticking the keys into the ignition.

"Keep your eyes on the road, buddy," Sam whispered, pointing for his son to look out into the street. He gently lifted his foot off of the gas, allowing the truck to move forward into the street.

Sam tried not to laugh as he saw the little thinking gears turning rapidly in his sons head as he narrowed his eyes and focused on the road. Everything about Liam was Sam; from his hair to his personality – except when something got him thinking. That look on his face was all McNally and he couldn't love it more.

As he watched the little hands grasp the wheel tightly, a memory came back to his mind.

* * *

_He could feel his hands around the wheel as he glanced in the truck's mirror, smiling at the gorgeous woman in the backseat, her finger grasped in the tiny hand that belonged to their newborn son. He was tiny, tinier than Sam had ever really imagined a newborn to be but the doctor had said he was an average size baby. Somehow, the carseat he was strapped into made him even smaller and Sam wondered whether that made the baby feel safer or not. _

_"__He's so quiet, he must've inherited that from his daddy," Andy laughed, pushing a little piece of dark hair back under his tiny hat, "Just like his looks." _

_"__I don't know," Sam joked, "He was pretty talkative in the hospital and that's definitely something he gets from you." _

_"__Nah, he was just griping because he wanted to go home. Speaking of, why are you driving so slow?"_

_"__I'm not driving slow."_

_"__Sam, you're barely going twenty in a fifty-five," Andy accused, "And this little man and his mommy wanna get home."_

_"__I'm taking my time because it's my job to keep you both safe." _

_Andy rolled her eyes and grinned at her new son, "Daddy's a little crazy but that's why we love him."_

* * *

"What are you thinking about, Daddy?" Liam asked, his eyebrows pinching together the way Andy's always did when she was questioning something.

Still a little stuck in the past, Sam answered, "Did you know I still remember the first time you rode in this truck?"

"Really?"

"Yeah," Sam laughed, "You were so tiny, all strapped in and bundled up in this big babyseat- you were even littler than your sister – and we put you in that big truck and Mommy made fun of me because I drove super slow the whole way home."

"Why did you drive slow?" Liam asked, his eyebrows creasing in the same way Andy's did.

"I was scared," Sam chuckled, "I was scared to drive such a big truck and go too fast with so many important people in it. All I wanted to do is guarantee that I could keep you and Mommy safe forever."

* * *

"How did your drive go?" Andy asked, finding Sam sitting on the edge of their now sleeping son's bed half an hour later. She carried their fussing nine month old close to her as she made her way towards her husband on the bed.

Sam kissed Andy's forehead as she leaned into him and ran his hand through their daughter's soft brown hair, "Good," he answered, "I let Liam drive- on my lap of course- and he obviously loved that. We both did."

"Really?" Andy replied, confused. In the ten years she had known them, the only other person he had ever willingly allowed behind the wheel of his truck was her. It made her wonder what had brought that on.

"What happened?"

"We just drove up and down the neighborhood a little bit, no big deal. I told him about the day we brought him home from the hospital," Sam laughed.

Andy chuckled, "I mean, what happened that made you take him out there in your truck at 9pm?"

"Oh," Sam said. He cleared his throat a little, pulling their baby girl onto his lap. As he brushed his hand through her hair, he answered, "Today, I had to interrogate this kid who lost his father on the job and he was talking about everything he never got to do with his dad, you know, everything he never got to teach him and one of the things he kept saying was that his father never got to teach him how to drive. I don't know why, but that just stuck with me. One of the few good memories I actually had with my own father was him putting me behind the wheel when I was thirteen. He told me that it was better to learn early."

Biting her bottom lip, Andy nodded and pulled herself closer to Sam.

"I mean, I guess I just wanted Liam to have at least one memory of that, you know? Our jobs are higher risk than most parents, they could lose us any day and I guess I just wanted him to have the time his dad let him drive to hold onto. It's probably stupid."

"No. No, Sam, it's not stupid. You wanting him to have memories like that of you is not stupid," Andy whispered, kissing her husband as she tried to hold in the tears forming in her eyes, "And we- we are not going to lose you."

Sam kissed the top of their daughter's head and wrapped one arm around Andy. Somewhere towards the end of their conversation, their son had woken up and was now trying to squeeze his way in-between his mom and dad. Andy pulled him onto her lap and kissed his cheek, causing him to laugh and make a grossed out face. Sam started to laugh too as Andy pouted over Liam's reaction.

Huddled up as a family together, Liam glanced up at his father and whispered, "See, Daddy, you do keep us safe."

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**Thanks for reading! **

**Upon finishing this, I have 2 requests: **

**I need a name for Sam and Andy's fictional daughter. I can never pick a girl's name that I feel like fits them perfectly, so I want your opinions - you can either comment on here, send them to my ask on tumblr ( ask), or tweet me them ali_lauren14**

**I need prompt requests! If you have any - preferably McSwarek + being parents - ones, feel free to put those in my askbox on Tumblr as well! Thanks guys! **


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